Kaneki Ken
by foggraven
Summary: There is something Decidly inhuman about him
1. Chapter 1 - New Additions

**An: A little something that came to me, it will follow in much the same vein as my other story 'Divination'. ****Please enjoy.**

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Third year is marked by the presence of dementors and two new additions to the staff table.

When Harry and Hermione enter the Great Hall after professor McGonagall finishes with them there he is sitting at the Head table a stylish eye patch over one eye with hair white as snow and black nailed fingers. His one visible eye sports a red iris and black sclera.

The students can't seem to help but stare at this strange new figure.

There is something decidedly inhuman about him.

From the way he moves, to the way he looks at them sometimes; like they exist only because he allows them to. Everything about him screams the casual inborn superiority of something higher on the food chain.

The way he habitually cracks his fingers is instinctually terrifying and his presence is that of a predators.

He never eats anything and they only ever seem to see him drinking coffee and a mysterious viscous liquid which looks suspiciously like blood.

His diet or rather lack of one leads to whispers about him being a vampire but in the end he is something far more terrifying.

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	2. Chapter 2 - Love, Fear, Agony

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Kaneki ken.

When they follow after professor Lupin and enter the staff room for their first DADA lesson of the year it's empty except for Snape and Dumbledore's enigmatic guest.

Snape leaves shortly after but Kaneki decides to stay and watch.

Professor Lupin seems strangely on edge around the mysterious foreigner, even more so than is usual. Despite this he continues his lesson with admiral composure even as his instincts and nose scream at him to flee. He doesn't know what but something about the man causes his hackles to rise and his hair to stand on end, it's all he can do not to growl when he draws too near.

The other students seem mostly unaware to this unseen tension but it is something that Hermione subtly picks up on. It is another curiosity to add to the list.

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Today they are learning about boggarts. Most of his classmates have simple almost childish fears but for Harry it's a terrifying prospect, the idea of facing one's worst fears.

Just when it's about to be his turn and professor Lupin steps forward and looks like he is about to intervene he's interrupted by Kaneki.

So far he's just been sitting and watching but now he's standing with one hand lightly touching their defence professors' shoulder.

"I do wonder what it is that I fear most, I do hope you would not begrudge me if I were to ask for a try."

"Certainly," Lupin's response is almost chocked, like the man is forcing himself to speak.

Harry is secretly relieved that he does not have to face his fear. He has not been able to think of way in which he could possibly make a dementor seem _funny._

His relief is short lived.

Until now he could not think of something more terrifying than dementors, was incapable of it.

That changes.

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The whole class watches in horror as it unfolds.

The intensity of this fear is unreal.

Slowly with measured steps Kaneki walks to the front.

The boggart noticing him _shifts._

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It's Kaneki head bowed chained to a chair.

He's covered in blood and his clothes are ragged, what look like scar marks are visible surrounding the bases of his toes and fingers.

"548, 559," the voices lingers in the air and their eyes are drawn to the bucket full of severed toes and fingers and the blood stained metal implements.

The implications are disturbing.

Slowly he looks up and stands breaking his metal restraints like they're not even there.

He cocks his head and taps against one ear, and then he ceases tapping and they can hear it, the scuttling of multitudes of tiny legs.

And then he puts he hand to his ear and _pulls. _

It is the single most horrific thing any of them have ever seen.

Slowly inch by inch he removes the centipede from his head.

The real Kaneki watches on unfazed, until the scene fades and then he looks like he might cry.

There is a woman, beautiful with long purple hair with eyes like his.

She comes to stand before him.

With a tender expression she looks at him like someone would a lover.

As she fades, blood blooming across her clothes, her voice calls out softly filled with love and tenderness.

"That's right, Kaneki. To live is to devour others. Eat."

And there she lies.

Her body atop a pile of others, all with those same eyes and all dead.

"Eat."

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**An: Lupin's wolf side can sense he's in the presence of a predator; this is where his odd subconscious wariness of Kaneki stems from. I love Touka but I also love Rize. **


	3. Chapter 3 - Flesh Freely Given

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Word about the boggart spreads like wildfire.

The mystery of Kaneki Ken grew even more tantalizing... and terrifying.

The fear the boggart showed was too vivid, too real to have been anything but a memory.

It was almost to horrific too be real, but it was.

Kaneki had been tortured.

His toes and fingers had been grown and regrown only to be cut off again and again. A centipede had been put inside his head and left to roam. It spoke of a cold, clinical, cruelty. Cold and soulless and evil, the work of a monster.

But he'd escaped.

Somehow he'd escaped and broken his bonds.

Watching him pull out the centipede within his ear had been sickening, most of the class had thrown up at the sight and the mere retelling of it was enough to make all who heard it queasy.

And if that wasn't enough to make you lose your lunch then what had come next had made sure everyone that witnessed it did.

Those chilling words, spoken like to a lover, "to live is to devour others. Eat"

Who was the beautiful woman that commanded that her body be ate with a voice filled with such tenderness and love.

What was her relation to Kaneki that she whisper to him to eat her flesh.

And most disturbingly, had he?

There was the terrible feeling that he had.

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	4. Chapter 4 - Idiosyncratic

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He's holding an eyeball, holding it between thumb and fore finger. It looks unnervingly human and the teachers on either side of him at the head table seem unnerved, shifting uncomfortably. Only Dumbledore and professor Snape, who uses similarly disturbing potions ingredients, remain unfazed.

After a considerable time considering the object he holds he puts it in his mouth and eats it.  
With a shudder they remember the woman's words, _"Eat."_

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Vampire's drink blood but they do not eat flesh and they most certainly do not possess the strange red and black eyes that Kaneki Ken does.

Yes he drinks blood, they are fairly certain that is what the mysterious red liquid he drinks is.

Yes his very presence screams supernatural and unworldly, something beyond human.

These are all traits of a vampire but he isn't one, so what is he?

Hermione is determined to find out.

The wild rumours and half truths surrounding his identity becomes the most talked about piece of rumour mongering in the castle, tied with the topic of one Sirius Black and his impossible escape from Azkaban.

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Honeydukes isn't the first magical sweets shop Harry has visited, but it has widest selection, which is logical seeing as just how many students visit.

Hermione isn't all that pleased with him sneaking out but to his relief she soon lets it go.

While Ron's telling them about Acid pops they spy Kaneki perusing some of the more 'interesting' candies, a Blood pop firmly in his mouth.

Later they spot him at the Three Broomsticks. He's causally reading a book with a foreign title written in what Hermione recognises as Japanese.

Placing his book down he's joined by a younger woman they don't recognise.

She's sweet looking with short brown hair that curves around her face prettily and large brown eyes.

She calls him _Onii-san_. Later when Hermione looks it up they find she was referring to him as 'older brother'.

It idiosyncratic, that someone so pure could be the sister of someone like Kaneki.

Whatever the case may be they clearly care about each other. Kaneki dotes on her and she clearly adores him.

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	5. Chapter 5- Coffee

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Coffee seems to be a favourite of Kaneki's.

The white haired man drank the stuff morning, noon and tea.

Sometimes he adds odd smelling sugar cubes, but usually drinks it without even that.

Most of the teachers drink tea, but some of them also drink coffee but they usually add things like sugar and cream or milk.

Out of curiosity brought on by the man's likening for the drink many of the students had given it a try and most found it bitter and disgusting.

They can't help but wonder what about the drink the man found appealing.

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The students find Kaneki Ken intriguing, intriguing and disturbing.

Among the teachers thinking remains rather mixed.

Kaneki seems to respect Dumbledore and the two are friendly.

Professor Trelawney on the other hand, won't go near him. In fact she seems to go out of her way to avoid him.

Hagrid however gets on with the foreigner amiably. Some people can't help but draw parallels with the large man's love of dangerous creatures.

The tiny Charm's professor enjoys the intelligent company as does surprisingly, professor Snape to a degree, though maybe not so surprisingly given his hate for 'dunderheads.'

The others remain undecided on the matter or are ambivalent.

Still everyone can't help but be a little bit wary of him.

There's just something instinctually _wrong_ about him.

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	6. Chapter 6 - Year's End

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As the school year draws to a close Hermione is still no closer to unravelling the mystery of the white haired foreigner.

Her preoccupation with him had lead to Ron accusing her of having a crush on the man which she had refuted, though Harry had noticed a light red staining of her cheeks.

He might find him unnerving but he supposed it was an upgrade from her infatuation with the fraud from last year.

No one knew what exactly he did when he vanished from the castle, disappearing for days or even for months at a time. For that matter no one really knew exactly what he did when he was at the castle.

He didn't teach except for when McGonagall needed an assistant or when professor Flitwick asked him to cover for him when particularly rowdy late night parties ended with him spending the day trying to uncharm the unfortunate upperclassmen who'd had their ears glued to their buttocks.

Most days he could be found in odd spots around the castle drinking coffee or reading a book. For someone so strange he was rather unremarkable in his habits.

With the exception of the infamous boggart and eyeball eating incidents the year passed without much of note happening that involved the white haired man.

There were many minor incidents such as when he once caused Trelawney to shriek and flee the room after he appeared behind her unexpectedly, or when he ate disturbing candies that Honeydukes clearly stated were not intended to be eaten by humans on their packaging.

But overall nothing much seemed to happen beyond Kaneki drinking the entire school's weight in coffee.

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**An: fourth year starts next chapter, I wanted to round off third year since not too much happens that I find useful for this story.**


	7. Chapter 7 -Lingering Memory

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The Quidditch World Cup ends with a riot and the Dark Lord's mark lighting up the night sky.

By the time September first arrives the ministry is still receiving howlers and being bombarded by reporters.

Things only get marginally better with the announcement of the Triwizard tournament's reinstatement.

Life it seems can never be simple.

With everything that's being going on things seem to be shaping up for an interesting year.

Harry, Hermione and Ron enter the Great Hall drenched in water after running afoul of Peeves. Upon entering they spot Kaneki sitting at Head Table.

He looks the same as ever and once again they notice just how odd he looks. He still doesn't actually eat anything, but he drinks that mysterious red liquid almost as much as the grizzled ex Auror who will be teaching them drinks from his hip flask.

With a shudder Harry turns back to his meal as he recalls prevalent suspicion held by most of the students that it's blood.

Unbidden a memory of lingers in his ear, "_Eat."_

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	8. Chapter 8 - Imposter

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Moody was crazy.

The man was undeniably off his rocker and had more than a few screws loose.

He'd also been an imposter and had his head almost taken off by Kaneki after he'd been discovered.

Unfortunately he'd already managed to enter Harry into the tournament the day before his discovery.

Under questioning he'd admitted to entering Harry under a fourth school after managing to confound the cup.

Unfortunately they hadn't been able to find out why and Fudge had denounced his claims of still following a very much still alive master as the ravings of a mad man.

The whole torrid affair had become very public once the prophet's reporters had gotten wind of it.

Mr Crouch's part in the whole thing had been so scandalous that headlines were still screaming about it months after it was discovered as the whole country followed the whole unfolding story.

The real Moody had been found tied up in his own trunk and was understandably shaken after his short imprisonment and left even twitcher than normal but had eventually taken over as the Defense teacher and was just as crazy as his imposter and ten times more paranoid, probably as a result of being stuffed inside his own trunk.

No one had seen the confrontation between the fake Moody and Kaneki so naturally the Hogwarts rumour mill had gone into overdrive spawning endless theories each more ridiculous than the last until the story went that he'd rode in on a dragon which had promptly ate the imposter, presumably passing him in one whole piece after which he'd promptly been carted off to be interrogated by an elite squad of secret Ministry Aurors still encased in a pile of dragon dung.

While the story was amusing Harry found himself a lot less amused when he learnt that he was still expected to compete owing to the magically binding nature of the tournament and that he would be shortly facing a very real dragon of his own.

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	9. Chapter 9 - Lambs To the Slaughter

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Facing a dragon was terrifying, but not nearly as terrifying as facing Kaneki when you accidently bumped into him in the hall and he made that unnerving cracking sound with his fingers.

Equally as unnerving, was when he stared at you unblinkingly with that awful eye of his before he smiled creepily and moved on his way.

That soft smile wouldn't have looked out of place on anyone else but Kaneki was just terrifying without him having to even try.

When Harry found himself facing a dragon he decided that, actually they were pretty terrifying too.

It was even more terrifying when the dragon somehow managed to get loose from its handlers and snap at him before it was restrained again.

He'd almost wet himself.

Thankfully though the champions managed to pass the test unscathed... _relatively._

Their reprieve came to a sudden halt with the announcement of a Yule Ball which they were expected to attend, dates in tough.

Harry managed to work himself up again at that and he was beginning to think the tournament might be the end of him before he could get to the end of it.

Girls were decidedly not his strong suit.

Kaneki didn't seem to have much of a problem though, everyday flocks of girls would swarm him vying for his attention.

The males of the castle found themselves rather put out, even though the older man turned them down.

"It's like Lockhart all over again," Ron had mumbled darkly. Hermione had rolled her eyes but Harry thought he saw that blush again.

Idly he wondered how they could be near him without wetting themselves only to blush when his hormonal mind had suggested that they probably were.

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**An: Cause we all know he'd makes any straight female swoon if they weren't too busy pissing themselves.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Sister, Lover, Friend ?

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The Yule ball is a showcase of winter finery.

Coming down the stairs Hermione unusually pretty dressed in blue, Fleur resplendent in her fine silken gown, fae like and unearthly, Cho in the traditional Chinese dress of her family's origins, the female half of the champions and their dates draw the eyes of all in attendance as they enter.

Kaneki sits by Dumbledore at the 'head' table. The sight of him and his entourage of two draws the curious sight of the champions and their companions ogglers.

By his side cherubic sister Hinami and a woman nobody recognizes until someone briefly remembers seeing a glimpse of her amongst the mangled bodies of his boggart.

The others sitting by them look decidedly uncomfortable in their presence to the champions as they approached.

Their elegance and beauty surpassing anything earthly is evident, dressed in equally unearthly garments of fine cloths that never look anything less than perfect no matter how their wearers move.

Harry is suddenly reminded of angels and fae, not those idealistic portrayals of modernity; they don't suit except for the younger sister, rather the great representations of antiquity.

Hinami is innocent and just so... pure, untainted by the darkness of the world, like an angel that might guide the dead to the heavens.

Her brother is as always a strange mix of opposed personalities. One is like some fae lord, distant and cold, predisposed to cruelty and possessed of an inherent indifference to those lesser than him. But this is usually buried under the quite gentleness characterised by his more earthly side.

Touka though has a beautiful melancholy about her.

Possessed of a great sadness and a great beauty she's all hard edges and soft looks, it is a strange dichotomy. But most of all she just seems... tired.

The first dance is performed and then everybody is dancing and mingling enjoying the festivities.

Several amorous couples rather unscrupulously take advantage of the opportunity to disappear into the fairy laden bushes.

Harry spots Kaneki happy and smiling dancing with his date and playfully spinning his sister.

He seems happy, something he can't if he's honest with himself ever really remember seeing, not truly.

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**An: Originally it was just going to be Hinami but quite a lot of you wanted Touka to show up and seeing as I'm rather partial to her character it ended up being a combination of the two. Thank you all for your taking such and interest in this little story.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Resurrect the monster

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Compared to Dragons or scoring a date for the Yule ball an hour long dip in the lake to retrieve a hostage was a breeze, that is it was once you actually had a way to breathe underwater for an hour.

Gillyweed might taste disgusting but it got the job done.

In fact he rather liked the whole thing once he got over the whole 'not being able to breathe underwater and possibly drowning or otherwise dying part'.

Being tearfully thanked by a distraught Fleur -who was coincidently still in her bathing suit, for rescuing her sister had been particularly enjoyable.

By the time the third task rolled around not much had happened outside Kaneki scarring some students from the visiting schools with his unnerving presence.

The third task was a maze, not very original but at least the viewers would get see them have to fight off whatever creatures Hagrid supplied for the task as they stumbled about trying to find their way in the dark – the task being carried out at night and with minimal lighting for the champions; because 'wasn't that exciting'.

Finally the end of the tournament came with the grand reveal of an elaborate and villainous plot to resurrect the dark lord Voldermort, who had somehow managed to continue with said overcomplicated and nonsensical plan even with the discovery of his plant at Hogwarts.

Of course when Harry showed up back at Hogwarts after the whole thing with Cedric Diggory's body no one believed his claims.

By the end of it all Harry had a headache and just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up for a month.

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An: Now we can get on to the real plot bits of Harry Potter so if I'll be changing anything it'll be here.


	12. Chapter 12 - Disappear

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Dementors, detentions and diabolical Defense teachers was what Harry's time was filled with these days. To say it was hell was putting it lightly.

Umbridge was a terror and she had Hogwarts squarely in her sights.

Kaneki –when he was there at least, was one of the few she seemed unable to cow.

She seemed to have a personal vendetta against him which many suspected was due to his obviously non-human heritage and Umbridge's notorious hatred of them.

And then one day she just... disappeared.

No sign, no warning. One day she'd just up and left to make a report at the ministry and never came back.

Looking up at the staff table he shuddered, _he_ had an eyeball again.

They had an unsettling feeling about where their hated Defence teacher had gone. Most tried not to think about it and just tried to be happy she was gone.

When he glanced back at the table there was a suspicious twinkling to Dumbledore's eyes and Snape was sporting a very small smirk.

He shuddered again.

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An: The French eat frogs, after hanging with Tsukiyama for so long I'm sure he'd be open to giving toad a try.


	13. Chapter 13 - Gifts

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After the disappearance of Umbridge her position had been quietly filled by a small wispy looking little man who had quietly faded into obscurity amongst the Hogwarts staff.

O.W.L.s were quite literally a nightmare and the seventh years taking their N.E.W.T.s didn't have it much better.

The teachers pilled the homework upon them and a rip-roaring trade in illicit testing aids had sprung up. In a show that would have made Mundungus Fletcher proud the purveying of faulty goods of suspect quality was standard practice.

Kaneki seemed to watch it all as if from above –which as non teaching guest he quiet literally was, with a detached amusement.

Several eyewitnesses had witnessed him purchasing a particularly gaudy looking amulet and a pair of nubile looking statues that were supposed to grant short burst of increased intelligence when rubbed.

Needless to say professor McGonagall had not been pleased when she had received one at breakfast the day before the students who weren't staying over the holidays for Christmas left, Kaneki along with them.

Professor Dumbledore on the other hand had seemed to greatly enjoy his.

Visions of snakes attacking his friend's father aside and the subsequent theories that he might be a seer –much to his discomfort, the rest of the year passed in relatively peace for a change, with the exception of the occasional breakdowns and nervous collapses that frequently occurred amongst nervous test takers as the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s grew closer.

Harry was reasonably confident he had passed all of his with the possible exception of History of Magic where he had fallen asleep.

Divination somehow had gone rather well and he had made up some random predictions as usual which had, disconcertingly ended up coming true despite their improbability –the examiner forgetting her keys and being bitten by a transfigured teapot the next day despite not having any keys or being the tester for transfiguration.

All in all, all was well. Voldermort had even ended up blowing his cover when he showed up at the ministry and ended up being caught trying to break into the Department of Mysteries.

Sadly he had evaded capture, even if his face was now plastered on every newspaper the world over.

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An: With Dumbledore still around Harry didn't end up falling for the obvious and over complicated trap set by Voldermort. It always got to me how Voldermort was willing to show up at the end of the book and totally blow his cover yet he wasn't willing to go get the prophesy himself even though he obviously had no problem getting himself or his followers in there repeatedly.


	14. Chapter 14 - Loose Tongues

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Horace Slughorn enjoyed his comforts and was rather plump... in other words _good eating_.

Harry couldn't help but wonder if he was going to _'disappear'_ like their last real defence teacher –her temporary replacement didn't count.

He rather hoped not, the man might have been a Slytherin but Harry thought he was decent enough.

Trip to visit the new teacher aside, Harry spent most of his summer bouncing back and forth between the Weasleys and Grimmauld Place where Sirius had, despite his grumblings remained in residence.

After Fudge was kicked out of office Amelia Bones the venerable ex-head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement had beaten out her rather insubordinate subordinate Rufus Scrimgeour who had tried to snake the top job from his boss.

The newly appointed Minister Bones had been only too happy to get about clearing Sirius name when presented with the evidence that he was in fact not guilty and had not even been given a trial under the orders of the now even more thoroughly disgraced Crouch.

The newspapers had loved that and Minister Bones was now riding high on a tide of public goodwill, with polls showing a hereto nearly unseen level of popularity for a Minister in the last hundred years.

It wasn't all sunshine and daisies though, despite the ministries increased efforts and the Order's own dubiously effective attempts Voldermort and his supporters continued to wreak havoc across the country.

Visiting Diagon Alley with the Weasleys Harry found himself gazing at closed and abandoned shops everywhere he looked.

Many were still in business but just over an eighth of Diagon's premises had been vacated, most notably Ollivander's who was currently on the run. The wily old wand maker had simply disappeared leaving behind his very well and nastily warded shop for the Death Eaters to find when they came looking for him.

Four of them had been found unconscious and arrayed in some very compromising positions after they had triggered his protections. A picture of the scene snapped by one of the Daily Prophet's reporters had made the front page the next day.

Returning after following Malfoy down a side street in Knockturn Alley Harry thought he spotted a flash of familiar white hair next to a vendor selling some very human looking tongues.

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**An:** **I like to think that Ollivander is too awesome to have been captured by Voldermort. I highly recommend **_**'The Wandmaker's Escape'**_** by **_**White Squirrel**_**, it's a very good oneshot about how Ollivander escaped from Voldermort using Luna's Butterbeer corks to make a wand.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Absence

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Kaneki was absent.

For the first time anyone could remember he wasn't at the head table during the weeks following the start of school.

Something was definitely going on, Dumbledore had a blackened dead looking hand, Malfoy was up to something, Voldermort was on the loose and Kaneki was missing.

And Worst of all Snape was teaching Defence against the Dark Arts, _Snape!_

Harry was starting to become dangerously twitchy.

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Malfoy was so suspect it wasn't even funny.

In fact there would probably have had to be something funny going on for him not to be up to something.

The fact remained though Harry had been witness to several rather implicating conversations involving the blond; the latest leaving him with a broken nose and left lying unable to move under his own invisibility cloak. As a result his healthy 'paranoia', as the others labelled it, had led to several comparisons between his recent behaviour and that of Alastor Moody.

They were the ones who were crazy.

And just because he'd taken to only drinking from a hip flask after Ron's recent poisoning didn't mean he was going to be getting a fake eye anytime soon... though the idea had merit now that he thought about it.

Katie Bell's run in with an Unforgiveable and was also a cause for concern.

Her near death after she'd come into contact with a cursed necklace Harry had recognized from Borgin and Burkes meant that that the total number of unresolved near deaths was running alarmingly high.

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**An: I know this is kind of filler but I'm struggling to decide how I want the rest of the last two books to end. So what kind of ending are you guys wanting/expecting. Leave reviews with your ideas and thoughts so I can hopefully make up my mind as to how to end things. **


	16. Chapter 16 - The Mystery of Kaneki Ken

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Dumbledore was dead.

Brought low by the traitor Snape. The funeral was held only days later and Kaneki like all the rest was in attendance, looking as immaculate as ever.

During the battle he'd slipped away quietly during the confusion and no one had been able to find him. They had found however a severed hand and an arm bearing the Dark Mark that looked like it had been gnawed on.

No body had been found and no one had witnessed any of the fleeing death eaters sporting missing limbs.

After a discarded pile of blood soaked robes had been found days later those still at the school had taken to walking in groups and there was a palpable sense of terror and dread like a boggart or muggle bogeyman might jump out from every corner.

Kaneki seemed unperturbed by the change in atmosphere. Indeed he'd taken to wandering about the castle at all hours like some haunting spectre.

His disturbing presence seemed only to manifold in the wake of the almost perceptible taste of fear in the air.

Just another reason for Harry not to come back next year, Dumbledore had trusted Kaneki but he had trusted Snape.

Kaneki wasn't a Death Eater, of that Harry was sure.

No he was to inhuman, like some eldritch horror made flesh and shaped like a man.

Voldermort for all his evil and perversion was still at his base, as twisted and ugly as he was, human.

Kaneki though, Harry didn't know what Kaneki was and that terrified him.

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**An: thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions you guys are great. After much thought I've finally hammered out where I'm going to go with this. **


	17. Chapter 17 - Mukade

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The wedding went off without a hitch.

The after party was a disaster. When the death eater's showed up it was to find half of the guests drunk of their faces. The resulting momentary confusion as Death Eaters tried to deal with the intoxicated guests allowed Harry and the others to slip away through the ensuing drunken brawl.

Five hours later found them battered and bruised at Grimmauld Place but safe and relatively well fed.

Five days later found them cranky and starting to get hungry as they exhausted their food supplies.

Kreacher wasn't much help despite his recent change in attitude after his assignment to chase after Mundungus Fletcher and there was only so much Hermione could do to keep them from starving on mouldy old bread crusts.

Eventually they decided that they would have to leave the house in search of food if they were not to starve.

It didn't take long for them to establish a routine taking turns leaving the house under the invisibility cloak to go shopping for enough food to feed them for a week.

This meant that about a fortnight into their stay Harry and Ron were rather concerned when Hermione failed to return at her usual time.

Much to Harry and Ron's relief Hermione returned safe and with arms loaded with grocery bags.

She'd also been able been able to get a recent copy of the Daily Prophet, the news that Snape of all people had been announced as the next headmaster of Hogwarts had only cemented their resolve not to return to the castle come September.

There hadn't been much else of note besides a small obituary announcing the passing of Artermis Stainwright, a 'respectable' and eminent member of society who'd been found down an alley in Knockturn with half his face torn off in what was a suspected werewolf attack. It only occurred to Harry half an hour later that the moon hadn't been full for two weeks, a full four days before the copy announcing the attack was dated.

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**An: If you can come up with any decent names or basic character ideas for expendable Death Eater additions, leave them in your reviews and I might add them -I need some people for Kaneki to munch on, plus some evil doers to do some general Death Eater villainy. Same goes for any other more 'general' wizards and witches; shop keepers, families ect.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Beast Without a Name

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Michael Prod a Death Eater, Miriam Lanster and Zander Fawely dark art's dealers, Thomas Bletchley a muggle rapist. All dead and all found in pieces, all attributed to werewolf attacks.

Something was afoot.

Over the last month a string of seminly unrelated murders and disappearances had been cropping up all over the country. They'd taken to tracking them in their spare time when they weren't putting the finishing touches on their infiltration plan.

They might have attributed them to Voldermort but something just wasn't right.

Hermione had been first to notice the pattern, seemingly ordinary often unrelated cases, the killed dismissed as the victims of werewolf attacks.

Tragic but nothing unusual at first glance. But as you started to dig deeper it became apparent their was something weird about them. For one only Lanster and Fawely had been confirmed to have been killed on the night of the full moon.

While the others deaths had occurred following or in the lead up to the deaths of the two dark arts dealers the bodies had only been found days later making pinpointing exact times for their murders exorbitantly expensive not to mention difficult to divine when coupled with the nature of the attacks.

With the current times being what they were the murders had simply been labelled as the work of a were-wolf or wolves.

There were more too, Adam Tugwood and William Shimpling had both been allegedly gored to death and partially eaten by an illegally imported manticore that they had been smuggling into the country as part of an exotic animal smuggling ring.

Just how long had these strange instances been going on?

Whatever the case, something out was hungry and it was hunting.

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**An: as some of you may have noticed I have gone back and added chapter tittles. Please let me know your thoughts on the tittles I used. I'm curious to see if you like them. **


	19. Chapter 19 - For Whom the Bell Tolls

**An: Short and Sweet this time.**

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So maybe trying to infiltrate the Ministry hadn't been the best plan.

Looking back Harry was starting to notice a trend when it came to their adventures with the ministry and breaking and entering.

On the other hand though... well there really wasn't much. At least they'd been able to find the Locket though.

Sadly the price had been rather high and they now no longer enjoyed the albeit slightly creepy comfort of having an actual house to live in that Grimmauld had provided.

No matter how magically expanded a tent was still a tent.

Having to move about constantly was also tiresome and finding food was a bit of a problem.

The resulting irritable mood was only compounded by the presence of the horcrux.

News was scarce at best. Hermione had managed to reproduce her notes on the mysterious disappearances and killings they had been following before being forced to flee but more or less cut off from outside news they hadn't been able to do much.

Disturbingly though the last case they had been had been able to read about had been at Hogwarts.

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**An: I'll probably jump ahead a few months or so with the next one, allot of book seven was them travelling around in a tent so I'm going to cut most of that out. **


	20. Chapter 20 - Broken Heart

**An: Hopefully some feels to make up for the short length.**

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Shell Cottage was... therapeutic.

After all they'd been through during the past months it was comforting to have a solid roof over their heads.

Harry only wished it hadn't come at such a cost.

Their newfound stability had afforded them a chance to catch up with the goings on of the world.

Hermione still racked with the lingering effects of the Cruciatus had taken up their old project of tracking the strange incidents that had long ago concluded were somehow interrelated in her spare time.

It seemed to take her mind off the pain and the tremors and Harry's heart broke a little every time he found her curled up asleep over piles of newspaper's clippings. He wasn't the only one who wasn't sleeping these days.

Despite the sleepless nights Hermione hadn't found anything. He hadn't really expected her too but he helped her search through old newspaper articles in his spare time anyway.

He liked to think the tremors stopped a little when he did.

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**An: The end is approaching, from here on out things get serious. Review with your thoughts and predictions for the things to come, and if you have any ideas or a suggestion now is the time to say them, It might just be your last.**


	21. Chapter 21 - Prelude to the End

**An: The last moments of peace are now behind us, gone far away.**

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Dragons, why did it always have to be dragons.

First Norbert, then that Hungarian Horntail, and now this!

If Harry lived the rest of his life without seeing another dragon, then he would live a happy man.

While breaking into Gringotts hadn't been smooth sailing, breaking out was by comparison the equivalent of blasting through a building's worth of debris followed by the stomach churning sensation of riding a mostly blind dragon; which coincidentally was how they had escaped.

Personally Harry couldn't see the attraction; give him a broom any day, he was happy to leave the dragons to Hagrid and Charlie thank you very much.

To make his day even more perfect the ride had ended when the dragon unceremoniously dropped them in the middle of a large lake, and they'd had to swim a quarter mile to shore.

From there it was a frantic apparition filled dash to reach the castle before Voldermort did.

They made it with little time to spare, but not before a run in with the younger Dumbledore brother and a rather close call with some Death Eaters in Hogsmeade.

An hour later as marble warriors and suits of armour marched to protect the ancient castle a sibilant hissing voice filled the air, echoing unnaturally through the grounds.

The battle of Hogwarts had begun.

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**Someone asked me to explain how magic and ghouls interact a chapter or two back so I'm putting it here. For the purposes of this story the following is how things work: More or less Ghouls are as impervious to magic as they are anything else – the exception being of course their own kagune. Of course spells that don't affect them directly like say a conjured fog to hinder sight would of course still work. Basically anything short of fiendfyre isn't going to affect them unless you maybe drown one with a ridiculously overpowered water charm. **


	22. Chapter 22 - Blood Stained Hallway

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_"Give me Harry Potter and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded."_

_"You have until midnight."_

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_Left, right, take hidden shortcut behind tapestry, up, up, dodge trick stair. _The silence swallowed them disturbed only by the sound of their running feet.

The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead: The two stone gargoyles that usually guarded the entrance to the staffroom had been smashed apart by a jinx that had sailed through another broken window. Their remains stirred feebly on the floor, and as Harry leapt over one of their disembodied heads, it moaned faintly.

They had to hurry.

Turning the coming corner they came skidding to a halt.

The part of the castle they were in remained as of yet untouched by the battle there shouldn't have been anyone here.

They weren't alone.

Someone else was present, the sound of footsteps coming from ahead announcing the presence of another person.

Making sure to be as quiet as possible they began to edge their way forward. Had Voldermort sent one of his Death Eaters to retrieve his horcrux, did he somehow know that they knew its location!?

As they turned the corner into the hall where the footsteps were coming from, for just a second Harry thought he might have seen a brief glimpse of white and iridescent red round the end of the hallway.

Slowly they preceded forwards glancing around nervously.

"_Harry!" _

Startled he jerked around to look at Hermione, silently she pointed at his feet wide eyed.

Glancing down he took a quick step back, there beneath his feet lay a small pool of blood.

They silently traded glances before continuing on. Tiny rivulets of blood littered the floor as they began to pick up their pace. Slowly the tiny flecks of blood gave way to large splatters.

Harry had a very bad feeling about what they were about to find, no one who had lost that blood could have survived.

Chocking he took in the sight before him as they rounded the final corner to their destination.

Retching he turned himself away from the unrecognizable bloody mass that had once been a man.

This time they all saw they all saw the flash of pulsating red light at the end of the hall.

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	23. Chapter 23 - The Fruit of Knowledge

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_The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yet, the arcana is the means by which all is revealed. Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are... Death awaits you._

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"Bloody hell, I think he might have singed my eyebrows off!"

"Really Ronald, honestly–"

"Quiet I hear voices,"

Trying to push thoughts of the luminous glowing red they'd been catching glimpses of increasingly frequently the longer the night went on Harry shushed the others, hopping very much he wasn't about to meet whatever was responsible for the body on the seventh floor when he turned the corner.

Rounding the corner wand out, he let out a sigh of relief.

Neville and a small cluster of other students were standing together in front of a door to one of the unused classrooms talking in rushed whispers.

Catching sight of them he waved them over, "Harry!"

"What's going on? I though you lot would be off fighting."

"We were but we ran into some unexpected resistance."

_'You weren't the only one.'_

"Voldermort must have sent a group of Death Eaters around the back through one of the secret passages because we ran into some on our way to reinforce some of the others, it's strange though they just ignored us when they spotted us coming down the corridor, nearly knocked us flat over, didn't even stop."

"We chased them for about a minute before they barricaded themselves inside there," Neville finished, gesturing at the door as he did.

There was a tense silence following his explanation, before one of the younger looking students piped up, "I think they were running from something, It's like Neville said, it was like they didn't even see us. All the other Death Eaters seem pretty spell happy, but they just ran past us."

Harry shared an uneasy glance with the others; they had an idea of just what they might have been running from.

A sudden noise from behind the door in question had them all turning to face it wands out.

There were several loud bangs from the room behind the door followed by vicious cursing from the Death Eaters inside before everything went quiet again.

They traded uneasy glances before Neville spoke at last gesturing to the door with his wand. "Right, well let's get in there, we can't just sit here guarding the door while there's a battle on, and we can't just leave Death Eaters unattended in the castle."

Harry gave a nod, "Alohomora on three then, and we all rush in with shields up and ready to duck?"

"Yeah whatever they're doing in there they didn't ward the door which is strange, I'd say it might be a trap and they're probably all just waiting there to shoot killing curses at whoever comes through the door, but at this point we don't have much of a choice."

"On three then," Harry glanced around at the nervous faces and tightened grips surrounding him, if the Death Eaters did have all wands pointing at them from the other side how many of them would he be seeing again?

He shuddered when another loud bang, this time followed by screaming sounded beyond the door.

"One"

_He shared a glance with Hermione who tried to smile reassuringly at him, but ended up merely looking grim._

"Two."

_From the sounds now coming from the door whatever was happening inside was not pleasant._

"Three!"

Wands out they rushed through the newly opened doorway and into the room beyond, coming to an abrupt halt at the sight before them.

There was blood everywhere; the floor was an ocean of blood, not a single inch untouched by the sea of red.

Standing at the centre of it all a figure with a singular red eye.

_Crack!_

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	24. Chapter 24 - The Beast With Seven Heads

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_And I beheld a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads_

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The sound of footsteps coming nearer jolted them out of their paralysed stupor.

Shakily Harry found himself brining his wand up to point at the approaching figure of the man walking through the darkness towards them.

In that moment Harry thought, he had been right; Kaneki Ken was truly... inhuman.

"_D_-_do_-don't move!"

His, pristine clothes untouched by blood, his white locks unstained by the gore that surrounded him he continued through the gloom ignoring the wand pointed at him as if it wasn't even there.

He strode towards them unhalting in his pace, fine shoes making no sound as they parted through the sea of blood at his feet except for a perverted sickening echo of children splashing in puddles.

He did not halt, not even once as more violently shaking wands raised to join Harry's.

That eye, that glowing unnatural red eye, gazed lazily over them as if assessing them and finding them lacking somehow.

If there was a devil Kaneki was he, this monster that wore a suit of flesh and blood and the face of a man.

_Crack!_

One step, and then another, fingers still raised in that awful pose.

They stood paralysed by fear, as closer, and closer he came until at last he stood before them.

For a single transient second it was if time stopped and all sound was absent from the world.

Unable to move, Harry's eyes moved unbidden, to the hand protruding through his chest

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**An: Review with who you think will be showing up in Harry's deathscape in place of Dumbledore, hints to whoever wants them.**

**On the symbolism of the quote: The sea can refer to the 'sea of blood' which Kaneki – the 'beast' is rising from i.e. standing in.**


	25. Chapter 25 - Tainted Blossom

**An: Recommended listening: Sis puella magica!, and Conturbatio from Madoka Magica.**

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_The rock won't stop after it starts to roll. Until the end of the road._

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He felt sluggish, had he been... sleeping?

As light and colour bleed into existence he recalled with a detached realization what had happened.

Was this death?

Harry had no illusions about death. He hadn't been expecting much of an afterlife, even if he'd had cause to wonder about it. The ability to talk to ghosts did raise a few interesting questions about what exactly happened when you died though.

Constantly facing death made you think on it too.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, perhaps an eternity watching over those he loved with his parents until they too joined them, whatever it was it wasn't this.

There wasn't anyone passing judgment on him, no one directing him to a light, there wasn't even hell fire and flames waiting to roast him while pitchfork wielding demons poked at him.

Instead he found himself seated amidst a beautiful field of white flowers; the sky too was devoid of colour, as was the chair he sat upon.

He didn't know how long he sat there unmoving.

Somehow he knew here in this place time was meaningless.

Amidst the timeless eternity he felt another presence join him.

Unmoving he merely continued to gaze out at the sea of white before him as the other person came to stand beside him, standing just out of his sight.

"With kindness comes naïveté. Courage becomes foolhardiness. And dedication has no reward, only suffering."

"Don't you agree, _ne_ Harry-_san_?"

Wordlessly he turned his head to look at the one who had spoken.

He didn't know who he'd thought would greet him, Sirius, his parents, even Dumbledore perhaps, but not the woman now standing across from him.

Staring at her he watched as, she nudged a single diseased looking flower that he had not noticed until now with her foot.

"Ugly isn't it?"

He nodded not knowing what else to say, it was ugly.

"Whose fault is it that things ended up like this I wonder? Coincidence? An accident? Fate? There's no such thing as fate. It's simply a combination of one circumstance and the next. And who is it that creates those circumstances? Who is it? It's you."

"People like you should just die don't you think?"

She stepped on it, crushing it under her foot.

Turning back to him she smiled.

"You're the women from Kaneki's boggart."

An uncomfortable feeling rose is in his stomach, "Where is this place?"

She tilted her head as is pondering his question. _"Ara_, I wonder."

"_Ne,_ Harry-_san_, I wonder do you know the meaning of a wilting flower?"

"When a child is born a red lotus blooms and the white flower of their life is born, that's true even for us who look down upon humans as we devour you."

Great chrysanthemum bursts of iridescent colour and shape burst forth from her as she spoke, and even as the abstract constructs that seemed made of strange ever shifting collages torn from places and times he had never seen spread as wings a stain of blood spread across her clothes.

"Whether we have everything or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, illness, loss."

A sudden pain tore through him and he found himself unable to move.

"To preserve his life that man so desperately sort to find a way to overcome his own mortality by splitting himself apart. But something so frail when split apart, parts may fall away even if the person doesn't want them to."

"_Ne, _Harry-_san_, it looks like another lotus is blooming."

Gently she tilted his head with her hand; everywhere the white flowers were twisting in on themselves and turning red.

"Just like the lotus we too have the ability to rise from the mud, bloom out of the darkness and radiate into the world. But you know Harry-_san, _Kaneki-_kun,_ and I, we who from the moment of birth, continue to take; food, connections, even fellow blood. Living to the utmost, continuing to slaughter, kill, take."

"Those pure white flowers that were stained with blood from birth became instead not a lotus but a lily."

"You who was covered by blood not your own, I wonder when yours became such a flower."

Still unable to move he watched paralysed as one by one the once white field unfurled in bursts of red unlike anything he had ever seen.

As the rising pain reached a crescendo he felt himself, as if being torn through a howling tunnel of shadow, torn apart and reborn.

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**An: The 'wings' mentioned are the ones from the first anime's opening, they serve as a sort of metaphor for her Kagune. The diseased flower, was the form Voldermort's fragment took in the different setting. Also – an interesting titbit, a spider lily stands for reincarnation. They're often associated with death and departing lovers. The story goes that red spider lilies bloom along the paths of departing lovers. Companions who for one reason or another are destined to never meet again. While not lovers, an equally intimate connection between Harry and the shard of soul within him could be said to be ending. In Tokyo Ghoul they were more symbolic of Rize and her connection with Kaneki. **


	26. Chapter 26 - Memories of Spider Lilies

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_Spilled water will never return to its container_

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He fell as if from a great height.

Shadow and light blurred in indistinct ragging storms about him.

As he fell he knew only that howling vortex of wind and darkness.

And then, a voice calling out to him through the darkness.

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Hacking and coughing he felt supporting arms and bodies pressed against him.

There were gasps and voices around him but he ignored them, he felt as if he had swallowed a great deal of water and that he must get it _out_.

Belatedly he realized the liquid he'd expelled from his lungs was not water but blood.

The others were huddled around him supporting his limp body and without their supporting presence he knew he would collapse, but he had enough strength to lift his head to gaze feebly at the face of the man before him.

Kaneki stood unfazed. Small tears and burn marks easily recognized as the product of defensive spells and curses, the only evidence that the others had tried to fight. He could feel the others trembling and their fear had and almost tangible presence.

Kaneki's skin remained unmarred.

Whatever spells had tarnished his clothes had not harmed him.

He stood unfazed a heart Harry recognized as one that had once beat in his own chest held aloft in one hand. He looked Harry thought, like some principal deity, judging them and finding the unworthy of his notice, but deining to cast his eyes upon them if only to smite them for their arrogance at daring to cast their eyes upon him.

That single horrid eye gazed down at them burning into them and Harry shivered.

He was, he offhandedly noted, miraculously, still alive, a new pulse beating in his chest.

Slowly Kaneki brought the blood soaked organ to his mouth and paused before taking a bite, head tilted back.

"Payment for services rendered."

Even paralysed like the others, even though by lethargy rather than fear Harry could not but help but think it obscene as he unable to look away was forced to watch as Kaneki consumed his prize.

Wetting his lip he managed to find his voice. "The horcrux then, it's gone?"

"_Hai."_

Pausing Kaneki cast aside the last dregs of gore that clung to his skin.

"There's been a change of plans."

"Prophesies don't mean much when their conditions have been fulfilled, or for those who hold little stock in them, goodbye Harry Potter."

"Wait!"

Kaneki paused, turning to look at him over his shoulder.

"There was someone, a woman, the one from your boggart."

At his words Kaneki went very still.

"She's dead isn't she?" wetting his lips he continued on before he lost his nerve, "I think I understand now, about Voldermort, about you."

"She didn't tell me, not with words, or directly, but... the flowers, I saw them."

As he turned his back to them Harry couldn't help but think he looked wistful and perhaps a little sad.

"Rize always did like spider lilies."

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**An: Next chapter will probably be the last, baring the probable epilogue afterwards. I'll have it up soon, it's been really fun but alas all good things come to an end, so thank you for sticking with me so long, you are all the best. **

**Ps. Don't worry Voldermort will get his due, I know you've all been dying to see him get splattered everywhere, you keep telling me after all haha. **


	27. Chapter 27 - Unravel

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_Kindness alone can't save people. It can't erase sin or wash away the impurities._

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_Remember me; as vivid as I was._

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Hogwarts was a castle under siege. The wards may have fallen but others had sprung up in their place erected by both the defenders and invaders in their effort to maintain and seize control of the ancient fortress.

A boom echoed through the room, shaking dust from the ceiling and sending numerous shelves tumbling to the floor around Harry and his companions.

In the brief time since Kaneki's departure Harry had recovered enough to stand and half supported by the others they hastened to follow the trail of red droplets that marked the white haired man's steps.

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Kaneki strode calmly through the chaos with unfaltering fluid steps, even as bits of walls exploded around him showering splinters of stone and wood through the air.

Those who bore witness watched as unfaltering he continued onwards.

Through clouds of dust and hails of shattered glass he strode, faltering only long enough to whip a hand through the air to sever a man's head from his body, the arc of blood trailing gracefully after the uncomprehending face of the Death Eater who he had beheaded.

As the fighting grew thicker he began to slow, the halls chocked with Death Eaters and Dark creatures alike and those fighting them.

It was here Harry bore witness to an incredible sight. He had noticed it since the moment of his second _'birth'_, perhaps he had never been consciously aware of until then but it was like a veil had been lifted from his eyes and he could perceive the world properly for the first time.

The truth of a person's being captured within the furled petals of their blossom, the flowers that represented each life now seen by his eyes.

Impossibly beautiful and intricate as they were, each unique to their owner there hadn't been time to ponder over them

But now...

Now he felt as if he had all the time in the world.

As impossibly slowly, Kaneki's flower bloomed.

Great burning appendages of pulsating black and red light emerged from the confines of his body like great tentacles, first one then another as the spider lily of his being unfurled.

The very world stood entranced for a single luminous second...

And then there was blood everywhere, great arcs suspended in the air in graceful dances. And through it all moved Kaneki.

His very movements seemed impossible as if the bounds of the world could no longer contain him.

He contorted and twisted in a grotesque acrobatic display through the carnage he wrought, bounding off walls and bodies and twisting in ways that seemed impossible while flipping in incredible displays of agility.

He tore apart the flesh of a man's torso skewering him with the appendages emerging from his back and spreading them apart in a manner that left him spasming feebly, innards falling from him as he was pinned high against the wall.

An Acromantula was impaled upon the lance of fallen statue without the use of it legs which had all been crushed while a werewolf's chest was caved in by a crushing kick as Kaneki used it's body as leverage.

Another's throat was torn out, body hanging limply from the ghoul's mouth. His companion removed of his arms and legs and left to crawl upon bleeding stumps.

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It was Harry thought, the second time he had lost his lunch that night.

This was what he had wanted wasn't it, for Voldermort and his supporters to pay?

He didn't know what he wanted anymore.

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When at last Kaneki confronted Voldermort it was surrounded by battle.

He had carved a bloody path through the halls of Hogwarts to the Great Hall where unknowingly the Dark Lord stood waiting.

The Great Hall, once the place of school lunches was now the scene of pandemonium as the greatest Dark Lord since Grindelwald battled alongside his forces as they forced their way into the heart of the castle.

Blood and bodies lay strewn across the floor, trampled underfoot as combatants strived to bring low their enemies.

It was over before it begun.

The Death Eaters surrounding him didn't stand a chance. When at last they noticed him cutting his way through their ranks their spells simply slid off him.

Contorting, twisting, and jumping he soon reduced their numbers to little more than a line of corpses, their broken bodies strewn like dolls discarded upon the floor.

Voldermort inhaled in fury at his approach, snake like nostrils flaring.

And then in one final decisive moment it was over.

Fiendfyre leapt from his wand, there would be no green lights for he had seen as they had slid off the creature before him at his approach. There would be only fire, hot and pure, flames hot enough to scorch heaven and earth in their conflagration, powerful enough to destroy a soul.

For all his power and arrogance the Dark Lord was not stupid and he brought all of his power to bear, the time for playing was over.

The towering serpents burnt away even the ash of those unfortunate enough to be within their vicinity as they surged forwards, Kaneki leaping to meet them.

Time seemed to slow as the two forces neared each other, those few seconds an eternity.

And then Kaneki was through, for all their might he had been faster, slipping through the tiny gap between them to reach his target, crouching low before him.

Coiling and writhing they dispersed in a shockwave of fire that scorched the ceiling as the source of their creation ceased to produce the magic needed to sustain them.

Voldermort was dead, devoured alive.

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**An: And with that the main story ends, I'll get around to posting an epilogue sometime soon. If you want me to get gorily specific on Voldermort's death let me know and I'll try and include it in the epilogue.**


	28. Chapter 28 - Ghost Stories

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_The Devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist._

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Over the years the legend has grown murky with time.

Who was he, what was he, where did he come from this strange being from a foreign land?

The only one who might have been able to offer some insight, The Boy Who Lived always refused to comment on it.

As for the man himself?

He had simply vanished. Disappeared. The man who ate the Dark Lord, gone.

Those who saw him that day recall vividly how he tore him apart, feasted upon his flesh even as he screamed, the body he had crafted for himself once the gift of freedom to touch and taste the material, now a prison, shackled to pain, capable of withstanding the trauma of being split open like so much ripe fruit.

His limbs twisted and broken with a sick child like fascination before plucked one by one to be swallowed whole in the sick mimicry of those sword eaters who let their blades go just a little too far.

The head, still screaming, was the last to go, ground beneath his foot until it burst, eyes downed in one gulp after being lolled about upon his tongue in some obscene jest.

The image of his eye seared into their memory, burning into them.

For those who had known him the memories never left.

For the public at large Kaneki Ken remained a mystery as he always had. By for those who had seen him, perhaps even known him in passing, even if fleetingly, his status as one had never been contested.

No one knows but of course everyone whispers, it just makes it all the more enticing.

Here at Hogwarts he's whispered about, and some say he still lurks these very halls.

Others say he's gone, but who's to say he ever really left?

Legend has it, sometimes on a foggy night much like this one you might catch a glimpse of a figure with white hair and a glowing red eyes.

You know I hear a new cafe opened up recently, a foreign chain, what was it called again... Oh that's right...

Anteiku.

Haha you're shaking. Did I scare you?

Even after I tried to change the subject too...

Seriously though, we should go there some time, maybe on our next date? I hear the coffee there is _to_ _die for._

But you know... there have been sightings though, London, Hogsmeade, of a strange figure and the red light of red fireflies that no one can ever quite catch.

Oh, and those disappearances? They never stopped.

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**An: So this is it, the end. It's been a great ride, you are all the best guests a ghoul could ask for, and yes that last bit was intentionally meant to mirror Kaneki and Rize's first date.**


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